Article: Extra lane 'to ease congestion'

Doodah7

According to BBC Reporting, the UK are to allow drivers to use the hardshoulders on motorways to ease congestion.

Should we not be looking at this here particularly in the context of upgrading the M50 from Sandyford to the M11??

Alun

It's quite restricted though and limited to certain very busy motorways where there are frequent traffic monitoring cameras, plus variable speed limit gantries with speed cameras and regular additional lay-bys for breakdowns. It's not just a carte blanche to use the hard shoulder when it's busy, although you'd think that was already in place here in some cases.

spacetweek

Don't think this is a good idea. A motorway is a carefully designed piece of infrastructure. You can't just suddenly allow people to drive in the hard shoulder.

The M50 is not being upgraded from Sandyford to the M11, nor does it need it.

jman0

This bit from the article got my attention:

In the scheme, sensors detect traffic build-up, which triggers signs telling drivers to slow down and use the extra lane. Emergency refuges were established every 500m.

If accidents happen, messages appear telling drivers the lane is closed, allowing emergency services to get through.

I think the idea is crazy, particularly for this country where drivers already habitually ignore the rules of the road.

HydeRoad

If motorists once use hard shoulders, either legitimately or illegitimately, you will never get them out of the hard shoulders again.

If hard shoulders are used, lane discipline goes out the window, and normal driving practice, for those motorists that still care for such a thing, is scotched.

In the interim period before a hard shoulder clogs up like the rest of the road, the hard shoulder becomes a lethal race track for BMWs careering past stationary traffic at 120kph plus.

Where a slip road begins, all the hard shoulder queue has to rejoin the main flow, slowing up the main traffic lane, so there is no advantage, only to infuriate already stressed motorists in the main traffic lanes. Recipe for road rage.

Hard shoulders are full of gravel, debris, potholes, abandoned cars, and I've even seen women walking in circles bouncing babies in their arms.

If motorists once use hard shoulders, either legitimately or illegitimately, you will never get them out of the hard shoulders again.

They started this last year along parts of the M42 last year

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7060423.stm

A scheme which allows motorists to drive on the hard shoulder of a motorway is to be rolled out.
BBC Midlands Today has learnt transport secretary Ruth Kelly will declare the scheme a success on Thursday.

Drivers have been using the hard shoulder on an 11-mile stretch of the M42, from south Birmingham and through Warwickshire, at peak times.

Transport correspondent Peter Plisner said figures showed the motorway was safer at these times.

He said a report, also due to be unveiled on Thursday, would show that motorway capacity is up by 13% and that pollution has fallen.

The M42's hard shoulder has been used by drivers since 12 September, 2006.

A 50mph speed limit warning over the hard shoulder between junctions 3a and seven shows when the lane is in use.

Drivers who break down can make use of "refuge areas" which have been created along the 11-mile stretch at regular intervals.

When a car pulls into the area, an alarm sounds in a control room and help is sent.

Stark

The thing about the alarm in the refuge area is interesting. They should have something like that in the hard shoulders of our motorways

lostexpectation

a refuge area, you mean a hard shoulder...

A refuge area is like a layby next to the hard shaulder/overflow lane

lostexpectation

yeah but the hard-shoulder was just one continuous lay by

a layby layby

mysterious

This is ludcrisy..

When they use the hard shoulder as an extra lane, we still will need a HS?!
Otherwise what's the point?

Traffic will not benefiet greatly anyway,if there are accidents, the HS is needed, no HS, traffic still becomes a nightmare, so all lanes will be blocked. Therefore it won't be much help.

It might work on some well specially monitored motorways in England.
It will not work in Ireland.

Some people here still don't know how to drive on a motorway. If a HS is not available on our motorway's it will be just be icing on the cake for accidents.

M50 is a clear example atm, no HS due to works.
Accident happens in the absent of a HS you get kava boom. the road and city come's to an utter standstill.

Capt'n Midnight

The use of the hard shoulder would be in conjunction with variable speed signing. So the gantries would tell you if you can use it or not at the limit of 50Kph. It's only of use in very slow moving traffic.

Without the gantries it's no use.
Without enforcement of banning people using it in normal traffic flow it's perhaps dangerous.